In just weeks, Royal Caribbean's new beach club became Nassau's top-rated cruise experience, and it explains why private destinations matter more than ever.
Royal Beach Club Paradise Island opened in late December, and it's already a ratings win with cruise ship passengers.
Speaking during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley explained how the new beach club has completely changed how cruise ship passengers view Nassau.
"Within four weeks, the Royal Beach Club has already become the number one top rated experience in the in Nassau for our cruise guests," he said.
That's a tremendous change of fortunes, and exemplifies how private destinations are going to change cruises in the future.
A big hit with cruisers
Mr. Bayley shared some incredible stats to illustrate how popular Royal Beach Club has become in less than a month of operation.
As it opened, they slowly scaled up capacity to ensure, "we've got the product absolutely perfect."
Clearly, they got it right quickly.
According to Mr. Bayley, the Royal Beach Club has, "already outperformed all other products that are available in the market."
Sure, Royal Beach Club is better than other Nassau shore excursions, but that's almost to be expected. What he said next was more eye opening.
"Our latest results show at about 0.8 of 1%, behind Perfect Day [at CocoCay] for a satisfaction delivery, which means that the [Net Promotor Score] is really stunning."
Up until now, Perfect Day at CocoCay has been the gold standard for guest satisfaction scores by Royal Caribbean guests. In terms of popularity, Perfect Day is to Royal Caribbean as the iPhone is to Apple.
Mr. Bayley said they want to push the beach club to, "get to exactly the same level of satisfaction as Perfect Day." It seems as they're close.
"We feel like we're going to have a huge success with the product."
A predictable beach day
While beach clubs cost extra to visit, Royal Caribbean sees it as a can't-miss beach day that is sure to extend the fun and level of expectations to their port visit.
Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider described the new operation in The Bahamas as, "this is the perfect beach day."
He called the beach "breathtakingly beautiful" and pointed to things like adding a heated pool, optimal sight lines of the ocean, and a dedicated team to delivering a great experience.
One key differentiator about a beach club is it's more of a controlled experience for guests compared to a traditional port. Crowds, logistics, and variability are all more predictable for both guests and cruise line.
Part of the reason why Mr. Bayley cited such high guest satisfaction rates is because the experience has been fine tuned to offer consistent guest satisfaction while allowing them to scale experiences without sacrificing quality.
This speaks to one of the top concerns any vacationer has about any shore excursion they take: is it going to be as good as it looks on paper.
Beach clubs are part of a strategy to make better cruises
Royal Beach Club Paradise Island is the first beach club to open, and two others will open up this year.
The next one to open will be this summer with Royal Beach Club Santorini in the Greek Isles. At the end of 2026, Royal Beach Club Cozumel will open in Mexico.
All three beach clubs have one thing in common: they're cruise ports that get a lot of cruise ship visits and Royal Caribbean wants to offer something to stand out from every other thing there.
It's no coincidence that Nassau and Cozumel are two ports that will have a beach club, because each "anchors" itineraries in their respective part of the Caribbean.
When the other new beach clubs open this year, the goal is to offer something fresh and new.
Cozumel is a port that is visited on nearly every single Western Caribbean itinerary, and a beach club there provides something new to try.
In Greece, they think this will be a new way to experience one of the most popular destinations in the Mediterranean, "everybody's bucket list is to go visit Santorini, and we've crafted just the most amazing day for you," Mr. Schneider explained.
"Santorini is a great location, where we know guests are looking for gorgeous views, great pictures of the blue roofs, excellent Greek food, and the spectacular service Royal Caribbean is known for."
Each of these beach clubs are an "easy button" for cruise ship passengers to pick an excursion without worrying about quality, value, or safety.
By relying on controlled capacity, elevated amenities, and premium experiences, a Royal Beach Club visit is positioned to offer more than "just another beach day".
